Shin Bet Reportedly Sought Information on Ra’am From Joint List Activists

Shin Bet reportedly summoned several Joint List activists for questioning in recent days and sought to recruit them to provide information about rival Arab party Ra’am. The accounts, published on Saturday night, concern the security agency’s inquiry into suspected interference in Israel’s elections. The activists said investigators focused on Ra’am rather than their own work for the Joint List. One Christian activist alleged that an investigator invoked his religious identity and Ra’am’s Islamist identity in an effort to persuade him to cooperate. Shin Bet described the approach as “a lawful investigative method” used to examine suspected subversion and foreign influence during the elections. The agency said it could not discuss the investigative actions themselves at this stage. Ra’am rejected attempts to discredit its electoral conduct by recruiting activists from other political parties. The party said its institutions and activists would cooperate fully with law enforcement, following the instructions of the Central Elections Committee chair and the attorney general. The Joint List accused Shin Bet of political intimidation. It said that its political and ideological differences with Ra’am would not undermine cooperation between the two parties, and reiterated its aim of replacing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.